Hip replacement surgery is a common medical procedure that some people may want to consider if they have damaged their hip joint, and exercise is not helping improve your pain. Most people who have hip replacement surgery are old, but you don’t have to be a senior citizen to need a hip replacement, and if you have a disability such as Spina Bifida, sometimes hip replacement is inevitable. I had hip replacement surgery a few years ago because I have a condition called hip dysplasia, which is a medical condition when your hip socket does not cover the ball portion of your upper thigh, that often leads to partial or full dislocation of your hips. When I was born, both of my hips were fully dislocated which I have been told by doctors is not harmful, and you only need to fix it when it starts to give you pain. Hip replacement surgery was something I have always known I might need but I wouldn’t because it’s one of those surgeries you never want to have. As a disabled person, I have had dozens of surgeries, but out of all my surgeries, I think hip replacement was the worst, and I wasn’t prepared for it because there were a lot of things that my doctor did not tell me. How do you prepare for hip replacement surgery?
Exercise as much as possible– Before I had hip replacement surgery, I was in a lot of pain, and moving my leg in even the smallest way was difficult, and I was not doing a lot of movement prior to surgery, but I should have been doing something. If there was one thing I wish I had done differently leading up to hip replacement surgery was that I wish I had exercised more to prepare my body. Before I had hip replacement surgery, I stopped exercising because it was too painful to move, and it is my biggest regret because things were harder than they should have been. Transfers were more difficult when I was recovering from hip replacement surgery because prior to surgery, I let my fitness go and was weaker than I normally am when I have surgery. Exercise was difficult prior to surgery because I couldn’t do anything that required me to move my legs, but I could have modified my workout routine, and instead of Pilates, I could have done an upper body workout, but I didn’t. When you have hip replacement surgery with Spina Bifida, you have almost no independence because of hip precautions, and a strong upper is so important for making these transfers easier. Don’t let your fitness go because hip replacement surgery recovery is already hard enough, and you are only going to make it harder by not taking care of yourself.
Get a transfer board- People who have had hip replacement surgery have some kind of hip precautions and there are some movements that doctors tell you not to do for a certain period of time because it’s unsafe while your body is healing. Most people who have hip replacement are able to start walking with minimal pressure hours after surgery but because I have limited sensation in my legs, I was not able to do that and was non-weight-bearing for a couple of months. When you can’t stand, cross your legs, bend your legs past ninety degrees or squat transfers become difficult because most transfers require at least one of those positions. If you have had hip replacement surgery and are non-weight bearing, I can’t stress enough how important it is to have a transfer board which basically a piece of wood that you sit on that allows you to scoot across and do transfers in and out of bed without needing to stand.
Invest in a grabber- When I was recovering from hip replacement surgery if I dropped something on the floor the only way I could get it was if I violated hip precautions which I didn’t do or ask someone to pick it up for me. Most disabled people own a grabber to help them pick things off the floor, but I don’t have one because most of the things I would use it for are too heavy for the grabber to handle. I wish I had a grabber when I was recovering from hip replacement surgery because I feel like you drop more things when I can’t get them. I could have bought a grabber, but I didn’t think it was a worthwhile investment if I was only going to use it once or twice, so I didn’t buy one and every time I needed help, I would bother other people. If you think you will use a grabber after you recover it can be a very helpful tool to have during your recovery that give you some kind of independence.
Get a raised toilet seat- After you have hip replacement surgery doctors strongly advise you don’t sit on a regular toilet seat right away because it’s too low to the ground and usually it is recommended you get a raised toilet seat. A raised toilet seat is something that you can put over the top of your existing toilet that is a little higher from the ground than a regular toilet that makes it safe to go to the bathroom without violating hip precautions. You can wait to get a raised toilet seat until after you recover because some hospitals will supply one, but I think it’s better to have all your supplies ahead of time if you can, so you don’t run the risk of not having everything you need.
Get lots of pillows- When I had hip replacement surgery, my leg was twice its normal size because of the swelling which takes several months to get it down significantly. I had to constantly elevate my leg to get some of the swelling down and my bed was a mountain of pillows because I needed a couple for my legs and some to sleep with. Make sure you have enough pillows because the swelling is painful, and you will probably use twice as many pillows as you normally would.
Make sure you have enough ice packs- When I was recovering, I had to elevate my legs and constantly keep ice on it because ice helps reduce pain and inflammation if you have swelling. It can be helpful to have a couple of icepacks on hand so when one gets warm you have another backup. If you are going to use ice, make sure that the icepack has some kind of covering because you can burn your skin which is easy to do when you have Spina Bifida and don’t have a lot of sensation in your legs. Some people say to use heat but from what I experienced heat makes it worse and if I had stiff joints, I would use heat but would strongly advise against it for swelling.
Hip replacement helped me have less pain and I don’t regret having it, but it was a hard recovery because it took away all my independence and I had to completely rely on other people to do things for me that I normally can do independently which is very hard for me personally. It was annoying that I had no independence for a few months, but I knew I was going to get my independence and that it wasn’t going to last forever. There are a lot of things that I wish I would have known before having hip replacement surgery but like most surgeries, it was a learning experience, and now know what to expect if I were to need a second hip replacement which is possible because I am only halfway there and only did one hip. Hip replacement was harder because of my disability and most people recover faster than I do but it has nothing to do with my medical team. I had an amazing medical team even though my recovery was hard, but my doctor can’t change my disability and they can only help slightly improve my life How do you prepare for hip replacement surgery? If you liked this post please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
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